The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, pardoned Nika Gvaramia, the Director General of the TV company “Mtavari”.
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“Today I signed the act of pardoning Nikoloz Gvaramia. I made this decision after all legal steps were exhausted on June 19, when the Supreme Court did not accept the cassation suit for consideration. I am not going to give you any explanation for this decision, because it is my prerogative, and I am using it today on my volition.
I just want to remind you what I also said in the European Parliament, in Brussels: such a decision, the discretionary right of the president, cannot be subject to pressure, advice, recommendation, or any other type of influence like “if you don't do this, this will happen.” It is the president's discretion,” said Salome Zourabichvili.
On June 19, the Supreme Court rejected the cassation appeals of Nika Gvaramia and the prosecutor’s office, and the verdict against him stood.
Tbilisi City Court Judge Lasha Chkhikvadze sentenced Nika Gvaramia to 3 years and 6 months in prison on May 16, 2022, on the charge of abuse of power during the leadership of the Rustavi 2 TV company.
On November 2 of the same year, the panel of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal, composed of judges Merab Jorbenadze, Lavrenti Maglakelidze, and Davit Mamiseishvili, upheld the sentence handed down to Gvaramia - 3.6 years of imprisonment. However, the appellate court partially changed the verdict of the first instance. In particular, Nika Gvaramia was arrested for using a car belonging to the Rustavi 2 network for personal purposes (abuse of power), because of the charge on the second court - causing 6,763,509 GEL of damages to Rustavi 2, by the verdict of May 16, 2022, of the Tbilisi City Court, he was handed a 50 thousand GEL fine. The Court of Appeals imposed a prison sentence on this court as well.
